Hydrogen is generally considered a “clean fuel” because it can be reacted with oxygen in hydrogen-consuming devices, such as a fuel cells or combustion engines, to produce energy and water. Virtually no other reaction byproducts are produced in exhaust from these systems. As a result, the use of hydrogen as a fuel effectively solves many environmental problems associated with the use of petroleum based fuels.
As is well known, various industrial methods are practiced for the generation of hydrogen gas in an industrially feasible scale including the method of electrolysis of water, reaction of a metal with an acid, reaction of certain metals with a strongly alkaline compound, reaction of calcium hydride with water, steam reforming of methyl alcohol or methane in natural gas, releasing of hydrogen gas from a hydrogen-loaded hydrogen-absorbing metal or alloy, and so on.
However, existing hydrogen-generating approaches can have drawbacks including high costs, low yields, slow production, poor stability, etc. As such, various challenges remain in terms of providing hydrogen cost effectively and in an efficient manner.